Shirt found near Illinois River could be linked to Robert Bee

Sunday

Jul 23, 2017 at 7:06 PMJul 23, 2017 at 7:11 PM

By Pekin Daily Times Staff

BARTONVILLE — A group that has searched for evidence this summer of missing 13-year-old Pekin boy Robert Bee Jr., found a shirt on the west side of the Illinois River and turned it over to the Pekin Police Department Sunday, according to Bartonville Police Chief Brian Fengel.

The group Trucks 4 Kidz is a private group based in St. Louis that searches for missing children, mostly runaways. Sunday was the third time it was in the area searching for Bee. It notified police they were searching the Shade-Lohmann Bridge on the west side of the river in an area that flooded often, according to Fengel Sunday evening.

Whether the shirt the group found is related to Bee, who went missing on Nov. 18, 2016, is currently a matter of speculation, Fengel said Sunday.

“You’ve got to follow all leads,” he said.

It is not yet known whether scientific testing will be performed on the shirt.

Fengel said he understood the group Trucks 4 Kidz was using sonar equipment to search the Illinois River.